Quest ActiveGroups 6.0, which provides an automated way for Exchange administrators to generate and maintain distribution lists and groups within Microsoft Exchange and Active Directory. Quest ActiveGroups 6.0 significantly reduces manual effort related to maintaining secure, accurate and up-to-date groups and lists by allowing administrators to dynamically create policies for group membership based on employee information stored in directories and databases. For example, if a change is made in a human resource database, ActiveGroups will detect the change and update groups automatically, ensuring up-to-date information while saving time for administrators and help desk staff.

Technical Specifications

Specifications are provided by the manufacturer. Refer to the manufacturer for an explanation
of the print speed and other ratings.

Software

License Category:

License

License Qty:

1 user

License Type:

License

Service

Support Details Full Contract Period:

1 year

Header

Brand:

Quest

Compatibility:

PC

Manufacturer:

Quest Software

Packaged Quantity:

1

Product Line:

ActiveRoles Server

Service & Support

Type:

New releases update

Service & Support Details

Service Type:

New releases update

Service Type:

Web knowledge base access

General

Category:

Networking applications

Subcategory:

Network - system & remote management

Product Reviews

Rated 4 out of 5 by 1reviewer.

Rated 4 out of 5 by Sameer Palav It gives an audit trail for each and every activity, but the workflow policies need improvement. Valuable Features:* Role Based Access Control* Provisioning, Re-provisioning, De-provisioning and Undo-De-provisioning policies* Data validation policies* Workflows* If Then Else statements* Approval Workflows* Schedule Workflows* Escalation* Virtual Schema* Virtual OU’s* Web console with easy customization option* Integration and data synchronization with SQL, Office 365, Lync etc.* Event handlersImprovements to My Organization:* Heavily Automates - it will automate the entire provisioning, re-provisioning, de-provisioning and undo-de-provisioning tasks* Complete Audit Trail - it gives an audit trail for each and every activity* Increase in accountability – various tasks can be enabled for approval.* Virtual Firewall against AD/Exchange - it helps protect Active Directory and Exchange exposure to administrators and engineers* Escalations – it helps escalates tasks if not acted upon in a stipulated time frame* Security –* it helps in increased security as every employee will have correct resource access depending upon the business policies* user account is disabled and user is removed from the security groups which prevent misuse of user credentialsRoom for Improvement:* Web console – it should have more customization options in terms of look and feel of the landing page* Workflow policies – Additional policies for folder access provisioning* Bring back attestation – Attestation feature is dropped from ARS. This should be brought backUse of Solution:I've used it for over 10 years.Deployment Issues:No issues encountered.Stability Issues:No issues encountered.Scalability Issues:No issues encountered.Customer Service:It's good.Technical Support:It's good. In fact, the Dell support team has easy access to the Dell product developers. In case of any technical issues which has something to do with the product architecture or a bug, the support engineer brings in the developer in a remote session so that the developer understands the issue. The developer(s) then work on a patch to address the issue.Previous Solutions:I did not use any other solution.Initial Setup:The initial setup is pretty straightforward. It's not at all complex.Implementation Team:Our company, Amal IT Solutions, is a Dell partner. Our consultancy has 10+ years of experience with this solution.ROI:I won’t be able to provide ROI from commercial perspective, but from the below points one should be able to figure it out:* User provisioning/De-provisioning – this activity, which takes anywhere from one day to three or four days manually, is done in minutes without any IT resource intervention and so increases efficiency and productivity* Notifications – respective stake holders/business owners are notified immediately upon an activity performed, and no follow-up emails or phone calls required* Data consistency – it helps to maintain data consistency in AD which eliminates a data clean-up activity which IT department has to undertake regularly* Data synchronization – it synchronizes data between HR application and AD/Exchange or other applications and AD/Exchange relieving HR and other application owners from day to day tasks of co-ordination or creating/modifying/deleting application user accounts* Automation – Most of the IT tasks are automated which in turn reduces work load on IT department. IT resources could be better utilized for some other useful activitiesCost and Licensing Advice:It’s a gentleman’s agreement.Licensing is based on Enabled User Accounts in AD. This should include user accounts, application accounts and service accounts.Temporary accounts could be excluded, but no one from vendors really challenge the user count which the customer provides. Some customer’s find the price bit on higher side but, for me, the price is competitive compared to other products with similar functionality and considering the ROI.The product functionality does not cease if the customer exceeds the license count. The vendor does not want to force the customer to stop using the product if the license count increases. Instead, customers can buy additional licenses without hampering the day to day work.Other Solutions Considered:We didn't evaluate other products.Other Advice:This product has tremendous potential. It can be used to automate a lot of day to day activities. I always tell my customers, list down all your requirements, pain areas, and day to day tasks. Prioritize them, and use this tool to automate these tasks as per priority.Disclaimer: My company has a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer:Our company, Amal IT Solutions, is a Dell partner. Our consultancy has 10+ years of experience with this solution. July 7, 2015